CHEAT SHEET

TOP 10 RIGHT NOW

18 MILES OF BOOKS

Fred Bass, Owner of Manhattan’s Iconic Strand Bookstore, Dead at 89

Updated 01.03.18 11:45AM ET / Published 01.03.18 11:43AM ET

Strand/Facebook

Fred Bass, owner of Manhattan’s iconic Strand bookstore, died Wednesday at the age of 89. Bass began working at the store, which was founded by his father, when he was 13 years old. In 1956, he moved it to its present location on the corner Broadway and 12th Street, near Union Square; and, by 1997, the Strand was the largest used book store in the world, famously boasting of its “18 miles of books.” The store’s director of communications said Bass died of congestive heart failure at his home in Manhattan.